Western Union (NYSE:WU) Given New $15.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Western Union (NYSE:WU) had its price objective increased by Evercore ISI from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

WU has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an underperform rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. William Blair reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Western Union in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.45.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $13.29 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.61. Western Union has a 52 week low of $10.37 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.23. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 111.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Union will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Western Union’s payout ratio is 55.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Union

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy bought 10,000 shares of Western Union stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.85 per share, with a total value of $128,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Union

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 134.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Union in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,366 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Union by 500.5% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,312 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927 shares in the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices.